Software Development Engineer in Test; SDET

Software Development Engineer in Test (SDET)

Location: Hybrid - 4 days in the Leatherhead office, 1 day from home

Job Type: Full-time

The Role

We're hiring a Software Development Engineer in Test (SDET) to design, build and maintain automation frameworks that ensure the performance, reliability, and stability of our applications. You'll combine strong software engineering skills with a quality-led mindset to advance our automation strategy and influence how the engineering team delivers high-quality software.

Key Responsibilities

Test Automation & Framework Development

• Develop and maintain robust automation frameworks for UI, API, and backend testing.
• Build automated test suites integrated with CI/CD pipelines.
• Enhance tools, libraries and utilities that support reliable and scalable automation.

Quality Engineering

• Apply structured test design, coverage analysis, and preventative quality techniques.
• Work closely with developers to embed testability into code and architecture.
• Drive improvements through root-cause analysis and continuous refinement of processes.

Testing & Validation

• Write and execute automated and occasional manual test cases.
• Validate functional and non-functional behaviour, including performance and regression areas.
• Participate in code reviews with a focus on quality, performance and maintainability.

Collaboration & Continuous Improvement

• Partner with engineering and product teams to define requirements and acceptance criteria.
• Champion best practices in automation and contribute toward a shift-left testing approach.
• Mentor colleagues on tools, frameworks and automation methods.

Required Skills & Experience

• Degree in Computer Science, Engineering or equivalent experience.
• Strong programming skills in Java (preferred), Python, C#, or JavaScript.
• Experience building automation frameworks using Selenium, Playwright, Cypress, JUnit/TestNG.
• Solid understanding of unit, integration, system, and regression testing.
• Hands-on experience with API testing tools (Postman, REST Assured) and performance tools (JMeter, Gatling).
• Familiarity with CI/CD systems (Bitbucket, Jenkins, Team City) and containerisation (Docker, Kubernetes).
• Proficiency with Git and modern version-control practices.

Desirable Skills

• Experience with cloud platforms (AWS preferred).
• Understanding of microservices, distributed systems, and event-driven architecture.
• Experience with contract testing frameworks such as Pact.
• Familiarity with observability tools (Prometheus, Grafana, Datadog).
• Background in performance optimisation and scalability testing.
• Exposure to security testing or Dev Sec Ops  practices.

Soft Skills

• Strong analytical and problem-solving capabilities.
• Excellent communication and team collaboration skills.
• Comfortable working both independently and within an agile environment.
• Motivated by continual learning and driving improvements in product quality.